The present invention relates to a plain water pressure boost system facilitating the dispensing of non-carbonated beverages from carbonated beverage dispensers. More specifically, the present invention relates to assemblies for dispensing non-carbonated drinks at a reasonable rate in environments where the main water supply pressure is deficient.
Some types of post mixed beverage dispensers include means of chilling water and syrup, a carbonator for making carbonated water from plain water and dispensing valves which mix syrup with carbonated water or plain water and dispense them into cups for consumers. The carbonator often comprises a tank into which plain water (often referred to as sweet water) and carbon dioxide are introduced. The carbon dioxide enters into solution in the water forming carbonated water. The sweet water is often chilled prior to introduction into the carbonator tank as carbonation takes place more efficiently in chilled water. Both the water and the carbon dioxide are introduced into the tank under pressure. The tank pressure is approximately the same as the carbon dioxide supply pressure, typically 75 lbs/in.sup.2. This is normally accomplished for the water by means of a carbonator water pump which is often physically closely associated with the carbonator tank itself. Sweet water is provided to the pump, is pressurized and then injected into the carbonator tank at a pressure greatly in excess of 75 lbs/in.sup.2. The high sweet water inlet pressure is needed to overcome the flow resistance of an inlet orifice which creates a high velocity water stream to promote carbonation through resultant turbulant mixing inside the tank. Carbonated water is withdrawn from the tank, sometimes finish chilled, mixed with syrup and dispensed with the dispensing valves as a carbonated finished drink.
It is often desirable to also dispense non-carbonated drinks from the same beverage dispenser. Such non-carbonated drinks can be plain water or water mixed with a flavoring or fruit based syrup as the retailer desires. Water is generally taken from the main supply, chilled and provided directly to the plain water valve. While this arrangement works well in many applications, problems have been encountered.
The main water supply in many locations can be deficient in pressure. This deficiency can be chronic due to location. Dispensers located at higher elevations or in remote locations are sometimes provided with uniformly low water pressure which makes dispensing of non-carbonated drinks a very slow and tedious process. Because the pressure is low, the flow rate is low and dispensing takes significantly longer than is desirable. The low plain water flow rate may also adversely reduce the mix ratio of water-to-syrup, making the quality of the finished drink unacceptable. Often, a beverage dispenser normally provided with acceptable water pressure will intermittently be provided with unacceptable pressure because of other demands on the water supply in close proximity to the dispenser. Thus, a beverage dispenser on a supply branch line which also feeds other appliances with high water demand may sometimes be provided with unacceptable low pressure. Even when water pressure is in a normally acceptable range, the pressure loss through the beverage dispenser's chilling coils may reduce flow to unacceptably low levels. In either case, the productivity of the beverage dispenser itself and the food services establishment which it serves are adversely affected.
One way of addressing this problem which has been used in the past is to simply install a booster pump in the water supply line. This is expensive to install, often requires extra maintenance, and takes up valuable space.
Accordingly, the problem of low water pressure has not been adequately addressed and a need exists for a beverage dispenser which can provide both carbonated and non-carbonated beverages at a reasonable dispensing rate and mix ratio inexpensively, compactly and conveniently.
The Invention
In accordance with the invention, there is provided a carbonated beverage dispenser having a water pump, a carbonator receiving pressurized water from the water pump, carbonated beverage dispensing valves receiving carbonated water from the carbonator and syrup, which mix this carbonated water and syrup to dispense it as a mixed drink, at least one non-carbonated beverage dispensing valve and a pressure regulator adapted to maintain the pressure of water received by the non-carbonated beverage dispensing valve at or below a selected pressure less than the nominal pressure of the pump.
Further in accordance with the invention, the pressure regulator is a bypass pressure regulator maintaining the pressure rise developed by the water pump at the selected level by allowing the flow of a portion of the output of the pump to return to the inlet of the pump.
Still further in accordance with the invention a valve is provided in series with the pressure regulator allowing flow to the pressure regulator only when the non-carbonated beverage dispensing valve is actuated.
Still further in accordance with the invention the plain water boost system is only operative when plain water dispensing is occurring and is not operative at other times.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a plain water pressure boost system facilitating the dispensing of plain water drinks at a correct pressure level without over pressurization, even when main water supply pressure is low.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a plain water boost system without requiring an additional pump.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a plain water boost system facilitating the dispensing of plain water drinks and carbonated water drinks either sequentially or at the same time even in an area of low pressure main water supply.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a plain water boost system which is inexpensive to manufacture, inexpensive to operate and provides a compact design.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a plain water boost system in a beverage dispenser which is installed in a manner identical to a conventional dispenser whereby training costs are minimized.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a plain water boost system which is completely automatic in operation.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a plain water boost system not requiring a separate circuit and circuit breaker for an auxiliary pump.